I don't see why this verse means anything more than an
introduction to the following verses as it clearly mentions the words
Moses spoke were at a very specific location: “on this side
Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red
sea” and at very specific time “the fortieth year, in
the eleventh month, on the first day of the month”. At this
point almost all adult Israelites that had gone out of Egypt had
died. Many of the new Israelites might not know all the facts, so
Moses recounts the previous forty years here.
Also the Bible does not claim Moses came up with every word in the
Pentateuch. Genesis was probably not written by Moses, but compiled
from clay tablets he had access to, see Gen. 1:1. And the last part might have been written by
Moses, but could also be written by Joshua, see chapter 34:5. The other material in the Pentateuch is most certainly
from his hand as Moses was frequently instructed to write down God's
words, see for example Ex. 17:14.

2
(There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of
mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.)

3
And it came to pass in the fortieth
year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month,
that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that
the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;

4
After he had slain
Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of
Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:

5
On this side Jordan, in the
land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,

6
The LORD our God
spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:

7
Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites,
and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills,
and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the
Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.

8
Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which
the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto
them and to their seed after them.

9
And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you
myself alone:

10
The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye
are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.

11
(The LORD
God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are,
and bless you, as he hath promised you!)

12
How can I myself alone bear
your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

13
Take you wise men,
and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers
over you.

14
And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast
spoken is good for us to do.

15
So I took the chief of your
tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over
thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and
captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.

16
And I charged your
judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren,
and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the
stranger that is with him.

17
Ye shall not respect persons in
judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall
not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the
cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.

18
And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

19
And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and
terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites,
as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.

20
And I
said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD
our God doth give unto us.

21
Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land
before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy
fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.

22
And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men
before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by
what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

23
and the
saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:

24
And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley
of Eshcol, and searched it out.

25
And they took of the fruit of the land
in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word
again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give
us.

26
Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the
commandment of the LORD your God:

27
And ye murmured in your tents, and
said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of
Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

28
Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart,
saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities
are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons
of the Anakims there.

(1:28)
"The people is greater and taller than we ... we have seen the
sons of the Anakims there."
More giants in the promised land.

Moses recounts the report the spies brought back,
almost 40 years earlier. See Num. 13:33.

29
Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be
afraid of them.

30
The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall
fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your
eyes;

(1:30) "God ... shall fight for
you."

God not only promised them the land, but also promised
His help to conquer it.

31
And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy
God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until
ye came into this place.

32
Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD
your God,

33
Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to
pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye
should go, and in a cloud by day.

34
And the LORD heard the voice of your
words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,

35
Surely there shall not one of
these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give
unto your fathers,

36
Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it,
and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his
children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.

37
Also the LORD was
angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.

38But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall
go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

39
Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your
children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they
shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

40
But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the
wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

41
Then ye answered and said unto
me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to
all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man
his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.

42
And the LORD
said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not
among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

43
So I spake unto you;
and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and
went presumptuously up into the hill.

44
And the Amorites, which dwelt in
that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and
destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.

45
And ye returned and
wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give
ear unto you.

46
So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days
that ye abode there.